8.26.10

and we're done!

from my journal, a glimpse:

"the first most influential change in my life is the fact that most of my time is now spent in no cell service areas and after the first two weeks, no internet and no electricity areas as well. communication, which was once constant, slowed to a trickle and then shut off altogether. i actually look forward to finding a place and having time to reconnect, but as i have nowhere to be and not much to do i am fully embracing the reality of having no one to talk to. without that structure and constant bombardment i never have any idea of the time, or the day or the date. hardly anyone around me knows either unless they have a job or it happens to be the day they need to make it to somewhere. we spend alot of time together - the people i'm camping with - and so quickly become good friends before, just as quickly, we have separated; moving on to the next place, or plan, or phase, or scene. i have memorized an impressive amount of new names and personal statistics.

these new friends of mine and i spend almost all our time outside. including the sleeping hours. we drive in clouds of dust up bumpy dirt roads leading to hidden splendor, the most rustic of accomodations and spectacular beauty. we swim in rivers and sleep under stars and sit around campfires. we are always on the lookout for poison oak. we spend alot of time talking about possibilities, but due to our necessary uncertainty no plans are really finalized until the last possible minute. we have mini-conferences where, after intense discussion, the only decision reached is that none of us will make any hard plans.

we sit around and swap stories for hours on end. i discover these days that while in the city this plan to leave it all and head out adventuring is a bit different and remarkable, here it is sort of the norm; everyone is drifting around, often homeless, often jobless and possession-less. when i tell people that i quit my job, moved out of my house and got rid of almost all belongings that don't now fit in my car, they say that they have done that multiple times in life and ask how i'm doing with it. it is comforting and humbling.

i'm morphing into a hillbilly; always barefoot or in moccasins, always covered in dirt, haven't brushed my hair for who knows, haven't had a mirror in forever. running around in the sun getting scratched, bugbit, bruised and sunburned i need less and less all the time and somehow, perhaps as a result, enjoy everything more and more. at least once a day i feel like i'm losing my mind, once a day i laugh so hard i cry, and once a day i am amazed and i love my life. 8.26.10"